[Author: Laura Kor]
Titan beetles are just one of a multitude of species attracted to light traps and we’ve been absolutely spoilt by the diversity of moths and other visiting insects we've seen. A personal favourite are the Saturniidae, especially those in the genus Rothschildia, which have little see-through windows in their huge multi-coloured wings.
As a contender for the title of largest insect in the world, the white witch (Thysania agrippina) is always an impressive visitor, dwarfing its nearest neighbours on the sheet.
We’re always sure to see numerous hawk moth species (family Sphingidae), which have stout bodies and long, narrow forewings, hiding their shorter hindwings.
As well as moths, we’ve been treated to giant grasshoppers, chirping cicadas and dainty dragon and damselflies, amongst many other groups of insects.
One of the many interesting and challenging things about titans is that rather than landing on the light trap sheet, they tend to crash onto the ground in its vicinity before instantly running away! This means that we’ve had to keep on high-alert all night long to prevent missing any visiting titans...
Other frequent visitors include cheeky lurking frogs and toads and swooping bats, attracted by the prospect of a free buffet.
